Re: OED

[Bill Troop billtroop@xxxxxxxx]

> I read the article you linked;
> what a herculean (aristotelian?)
> taxonomical task. Probably could not have been
> automated.


I just found a fabulous article by Christian Kay which summarizes a lot
of interesting things about the project, including the paper/technology
issues - - much to interest readers of this list:


http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/49097/1/id49097.pdf
http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/49097/1/id49097.pdf


I know from talking with the designer of the book that the design process
alone evolved over more than 20 years. One figure that Kay reveals is the
cost of the project: about a million pounds, or about a penny per entry,
spread over 44 years. Here's another gem: "There then began a short
break while the volumes were typeset abroad, although any relief this
provided was marred by a cautious member of the team calculating that the
typesetters claim of a '99.995% accuracy rate', when applied to HTOED's
22.74 million pieces of data, would result in over 1,100 new errors being
created."


I agree with your assessment that it was a herculean taxonomical task.
Kay is very modest indeed about her life's work, but I can't help feeling
that she should be ranked at the same level as Murray. Why is it taking
so long?


Partly it's because the work is difficult to figure out at first. I got
my wife to request the review because I wanted the book. But once we got
it, we had no idea what to do with it, and there were no other reviews to
help. The promotional material is unhelpful. Gradually, we began to
understand, but it did take a few weeks; not just to get it but to get
comfortable with it.